Class 9th Eng. Poem -10 (Beehive)“ A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal” NCERT/CBSE Based Question and answer, Theme Message Literary devices

Poem-10

A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal

-William Wordsworth

Introduction of the Poet

poet William Wordsworth (April 7, 1770-April 23, 1850) is regarded as one of the most loved Poet in English. He is known for his nature poems. His Lyrical Ballads is regarded as the founding text of Romanticism. His experience during French Revolution, as well life subsequent life spent in France, brought about his interest and sympathy for the life, troubles, and speech of the common man. These issues proved to be of utmost importance to Wordsworth's work. Wordsworth's earliest poetry was published in 1793 in the collections An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches. His most famous work The Prelude is considered to be the crowning achievement of English Romanticism. His famous poems are Solitary Reaper, Daffodils, Tintern Abbey, Nutting and An Ode on the Intimations of Immortality

Summary of the Poem

This poem is a kind of lamentation on the death of a dear one. In this short poem, Wordsworth expresses his deep sorrow over the death of an imaginary girl named Lucy.

Worries and fears of the world don't trouble a person when he is in deep slumber. Similarly, the poet's love for Lucy had made him blind to the transitory nature of human life. Her love had covered his spirit in a way that fears cannot affect him anymore. In other words, he was so lost in his love for her that it never occurred to him that being mortal one day, she might die.

But after Lucy died, the poet's spirit woke from its slumber. He came to realise the mortality of human body. She is lying still in her grave. She can neither see nor hear anything. But the poet consoles himself with the thought that Lucy has now become a part of nature and its other elements like rocks, stones and trees. Though she has no individual movement, she is moving with the movement of the earth.

TITLE OF THE POEM

The whole poem is about being in a state of slumber and coming out of this state. By slumber the poet refers to the state of being in deep love. The impact of slumber was so profound that the poet forgot even the eternal truth of life. His spirit was so sealed that he could not feel that Lucy was a normal mortal and would die some day. But soon that slumber got broken when Lucy died one day. This harsh incident awakened him to the bitter truth of life-death. So the title is appropriate.

MESSAGE -

The poem conveys the message that death is inevitable. Nobody is above death. But the dead person becomes one with nature and in a way lives on. Lucy is dead. However, after death she becomes a part of the earth and continues rolling with the earth on its axis.

THEME -

The poem's theme is the connection between the speaker's inner state and the natural world and the idea that the speaker's emotional turmoil is mirrored in the natural world.

Literary Devices

Alliteration: It is a poetic device in which the poet repeatedly uses the same letter at close intervals with the purpose of making the poem lyrical.

Example:

A slumber did my spirit seal

Here, 's' sound is repeatedly used.

Enjambment: It is a literary device in which a line rolls on to the next line without any punctuation mark

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. What does the poet mean by 'spirit' and in what state was his spirit?

Ans. In the poem, the 'spirit' refers to the mind and consciousness of the poet. It was in such a state of love and affection that he forgot the realities of life. The poet calls this stage as slumber as he seemed to be in a deep sleep. Hence, couldn't feel anything happening around him.

Q2. What caused the slumber?

Ans. The slumber was caused by excessive love of the poet for an imaginary girl. His deep love for her had completely overpowered his mind. Such was the intensity of his feelings that he became forgetful of the realities of the world. He could not think that the girl was a mortal and could die some day.

Q3.Why did the poet not feel any human fears and for whom?

Ans. Humans are generally afraid of old age, disease or death The Boer loved the girl so much that he could not think that she might grow old or die. So, he didn't feel any human fears for her as he never felt that she was a mortal and could die one day

Q4. What is meant by the touch of earthly years'?

Ans. This expression means the worldly sufferings and pains which a normal human being goes through when he begins to grow old, He specifically means diseases, mental infirmity and death which a person has to suffer as he grows old during his life on earth

Q5. How did the poet come out of his 'slumber?

Ans. The slumber the 'poet' was in had made him believe that Lucy couldn't grow old or die. But Lucy's death compelled him to come out of his slumber and accept the realities of life. Later, he came to realise that she was not an immortal. She was a simple human being and just as vulnerable to death and disease as others are

Q6. How does the poet reveal that the girl is no more?

Ans. The poet does not talk of the girl's death directly. In the first four lines of the poem he uses past tense while in remaining four, he uses present tense. The past tense indicates the poet's mental condition when Lucy was alive. Using the present tense, he reveals the condition of Lucy after her death. He expresses that she has become completely still and inactive. Moreover, she has lost her senses of hearing and seeing. All this indicates that she does not exist anymore.

Q7. Which lines in the poem suggest that the girl won't be affected by the passage of time anymore?

Ans. The lines which suggest that the passing of time will no longer affect the girl are: She seemed a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years.

Q8. How does the poet imagine the girl to be after death?

Ans. The poet imagines the girl to be assimilated with nature after her death. She is now rolling along with the earth as it moves on its axis along with other natural objects like the rocks, the stones and the trees.

Q9. Discuss the appropriateness of the title 'A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal.

Ans. The whole poem is about being in a state of slumber and coming out of this state. By slumber the poet refers to the state of being in deep love. The impact of slumber was so profound that the poet forgot even the eternal truth of life. His spirit was so sealed that he could not feel that Lucy was a normal mortal and would die some day. But soon that slumber got broken when Lucy died one day. This harsh incident awakened him to the bitter truth of life-death. So the title is appropriate.

Q10. Is the poem a philosophical take on life and death? Discuss.

Ans. The poem is highly philosophical. It ponders over the idea of life, death and life after death. The poet deals with the subject of death of a beloved. But the poet does not mourn his beloved's death as death is the ultimate reality of life. He had once considered her to be above old age and death. Now he finds her blended with the earth.

Q11.What message does the poet want to convey to his readers?

Ans. The poem conveys the message that death is inevitable. Nobody is above death. But the dead person becomes one with nature and in a way lives on. Lucy is dead. However, after death she becomes a part of the earth and continues rolling with the earth on its axis.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1 What was the narrator's attitude towards Lucy when she was alive?

Ans. The poem 'A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal' reveals the mental condition of the poet. When the poem opens, he was lost in the love of Lucy that he imagined her to be immortal. He looked as if he was under some spell or intoxication which made him feel drowsy and drugged. His deep affection for the young girl was so strong that it covered his sense of reality. He had become unaware of the realities of life when he was in Lucy's love. He was deeply attached with the girl.

During this stage, it never came to his mind that Lucy was a mortal and could die one day as all mortals do. In his eyes, she was a goddess or a deity who was beyond worldly suffering. Such was the poet's intensity of love for the girl that he forgot that the ultimate reality of life is that whoever is born has to die one day.

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